Methods of making multi-coloured rattan sticks and rattan and furniture made thereof

ABSTRACT

A multi-colored rattan stick is made by marking a plurality of subsections along the length of the stick. A first subsection of the stick is dipped into a first color bath containing a coloring agent. After the first subsection has dried, second and subsequent subsections are sequentially dipped into respective color baths, and dried between each dipping. The various coloring agents can be different tones of the same color.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to rattan and, more particularly, to thetreatment of rattan. More specifically, although of course but solelylimiting thereto, this invention relates to multi-coloured rattan stemsand furniture made therewith.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The use of rattan, or more specifically rattan stems, forfurniture making has had a long history. Rattan furniture is highlypopular because of the soft and classic appearance as well as thecomfortable feel plus the well known characteristics of being cool insummer and warm in winter. Furniture made from natural rattan istypically slightly brown in colour and may look somewhat dull for somepeople or occasions. As a result, furniture makers began to dye rattanstems in order to make or weave rattan furniture with coloured rattans.

[0003] Traditionally, rattan stems are either coloured by dipping or bycoating. In the dipping method, a whole piece of rattan stem is soakedin a dispersion of dyes or other colouring agents so that colourpigments can be attached at least on the surface of the rattan stem. Arattan stem made by this method is generally characterized by agenerally uniform colour along the whole length of the rattan stem. Inthe coating method, dyes, coating agents or paints are directly appliedgenerally onto the surface of the rattan stems.

[0004] The coloured rattan stems are then generally used to make, weaveor constrict pieces of rattan furniture or other articles. Rattanfurniture constructed from rattan stems coloured by the conventionalcolouring methods is generally not particularly colourful because therattan stems made by such conventional methods arc usually of a singlecolour or at most of a dual colour.

[0005] As there is always a need from consumers of more colourfulfurniture, including rattan furniture, it is therefore desirable toprovide multi-coloured rattan stems as well as methods for making samein order to facilitate the construction or making of more colourfulrattan furniture.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Accordingly, it is therefore an object of the present inventionto provide multi-coloured rattan stems as well as a method of makingsame. Of course, it will be appreciated that when multi-coloured rattanstems are readily available, the making and construction of morecolourful furniture would follow as a matter of course for the benefitof the general public. It is therefore also an object of the presentinvention to provide furniture including multi-coloured rattan stems. Ata minimum, it is an object of the present invention to provide a newkind of multi-coloured rattan stems as well as rattan furniture for theeaseful choice of the general public.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] According to the first aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a rattan stick including a plurality of coloured sections whichare sequentially coloured.

[0008] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for colouring rattan.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0009] A preferred embodiment as an illustrative example of the presentinvention will be described in further detail below.

[0010] Firstly, a quantity of rattan sticks or stems meeting a certainselection criteria, such as, length, quality, uniformity, appearance orother suitable criteria are selected.

[0011] In order to impart desirable colours to the rattan stems orsticks, a plurality of colour baths dispersed or provided with dyes,colouring agents or coating agents are preferably prepared beforehand.In order to provide distinctive colouring effects from each of thecolour baths, the colour baths are preferably stored in separatecontainers. Furthermore, it may be preferable to maintain the colourbaths at certain temperature ranges in order to achieve moresatisfactory colouring effects to the rattan sticks. For simplicity andconvenience, the present invention would be explained by reference tofour colour baths of distinct colours. In order to provide the effect ofa multi-colour scheme on a rattan stick, it is preferable that a lengthof a rattan stick is coated with a plurality of colours of variouscombinations. For example, a rattan stick may be coloured with alternatecolouring zones of two different colours. Of course, the colour zones ona rattan stick may include a plurality of colours, preferably more thantwo colours and yet, more preferably, between two to four. Preferably,the lengths of the coloured sections are between 10 cm-50 cm and morepreferably, between 10 cm-20 cm and 40 cm-50 cm. More preferably, thecoloured sections on a rattan stick are generally equi-distant, or inother words, of equal lengths. The length of a preferred rattan stick ispreferably between 3m-4m along the general length is likely to bebetween 0.5m-8m. Of course, other lengths of rattan sticks may be usedand other lengths of colour sections may be selected as and when desiredwithout loss of generality. In order to more accurately colour therelevant sections, the limits of the sections to the coloured arepreferably marked before colour is applied.

[0012] Turning to the colouring of the rattan stick, firstly, a rattanstick of a preferred length and with markings indicating the limits ofeach and every colour sections are prepared and ready. The preferredlength is between 3-4 metres and the preferred colouring sections arebetween 10 cm-50 cm. The colouring sections, or in other words, thesub-sections, may be appropriately selected. In general, the length ofthe colouring or the sub-sections are preferably between 10 cm-20 cm orbetween 40 cm-50 cm.

[0013] Next, the rattan stick is dipped into a first colour bathcontaining a first colouring means with the first sub-section dippedinside the colouring bath. The colouring means may contain, for example,a bath of colouring dyes, agents or other appropriate compositionssuitable for colouring rattan sticks.

[0014] After the first sub-section of the rattan stick has beencoloured, this sub-section is then dried. After that, it is dippedsequentially into a second colouring bath, a third colouring bath and afourth colouring bath for respectively colouring the second, third andthe fourth sub-sections of the rattan stick. Of course, the colouredrattan stick will be sufficiently dried before moving onto the nextcolour bath. Of course, the colouring baths may also contain thinnersfor diluting the colouring agents or compositions.

[0015] In general, where the colour agents or compositions are in powderform or as a coating, the thinner or otherwise solvent for diluting thecolouring agent may be water. Where the colouring agents are a type ofpaint, the thinners is typically an organic solvent commonly known asthinners. The above colouring procedure may be repeated for colouringadditional or further sub-sections to provide a more colourful rattanstick.

[0016] As a result of the colouring process, a more colourful rattanstick with a plurality of colours to be determined by the colouringprocess will be obtained and can be used for the making of morecolourful rattan furniture or other rattan articles with enhancedaesthetic appeal, thereby enhancing the value of the rattan furniture orrattan articles made with such rattan sticks.

[0017] In the above example, the use of four different colouring baths,and therefore four different colours on the same stick, have beenillustrated to assist understanding of the present invention. Of course,any suitable number of colours, where practicable, can be applied on arattan stick without loss of generality. Furthermore, the colours may bedifferent or may be the same colour of different tones. In addition, thecolour at the transitional regions between adjacent colouring sectionsmay carry a colour which is a result of the mixing or combination of thetwo adjacent colours. Of course, the junction between two adjacentcolouring sub-sections may be very short by accurate controlling of thedipping process, thereby resulting in a short transition and possiblysharp colour change between the adjacent sub-sections.

[0018] Furthermore, to utilize coloured rattans of the present inventionand taking generally the advantage of the equi-distant sub-sections, thefurniture preferably includes sub-sections of different length so thatcolour uniformity can be achieved at the desirable portions ascalculated.

[0019] While the present invention has been explained by reference tothe preferred embodiments described above, it will be appreciated thatthe embodiments are only examples provided to illustrate the presentinvention and are not meant to be restrictive on the scope of thepresent invention. This invention should be determined from the generalprinciples and spirit of the invention as described above. Inparticular, variations or modifications which are obvious or trivial topersons skilled in the art, as well as improvements made on the basis ofthe present invention, should be considered as falling within the scopeand boundary of the present invention. Furthermore, while the presentinvention has been explained by reference to a rattan stick or stem, itshould be appreciated that the invention can apply, whether with orwithout modification, to a plurality of stems to be treated together.

1. A rattan stick including a plurality of coloured sections which aresequentially coloured.
 2. A rattan stick of claim 1, wherein the lengthof said rattan stick is between 3-4 m and the colouring sections arebetween 10-50 cm.
 3. A rattan stick according to claim 2, wherein saidcolouring sections are generally of equal length.
 4. A rattan stick ofclaim 2, wherein the colours in said colouring sections are generallythe same colour of different tones.
 5. A rattan article including aplurality of rattan sticks of claim
 1. 6. A rattan article including aplurality of rattan sticks of claim
 2. 7. A rattan article including aplurality of rattan sticks of claim 3,
 8. A rattan article including aplurality of rattan sticks of claim
 4. 9. A method for colouring rattan,including the following steps: selecting a rattan stick, dividing saidrattan stick in a plurality of sub-sections by marking said rattanstick, dipping the first sub-section of said rattan stick into a firstcolour bath containing a first colouring agent, sequentially dipping thesecond and subsequent sub-sections of said rattan stick respectivelyinto the second and subsequent colouring baths.
 10. A method ofcolouring rattans according to claim 1, wherein a third and a fourthsub-section of the rattan stick arc respectively and sequentially dippedinto a third and a fourth colouring baths.
 11. A method according toclaim 9, wherein the sub-section just dipped into said colouring bathsis dried before moving onto the next colouring baths.
 12. A methodaccording to claim 10, wherein the sub-section just dipped into saidcolouring baths is dried before moving onto the next colouring baths.13. A method according to claim 9, wherein the lengths of saidsub-sections are between 10-50 cm.
 14. A method according to claim 13,wherein the lengths of said sub-sections are between 10-20 cm and 40-50cm.
 15. A method according to claim 9, wherein said plurality of colourare different tones of the same colour.
 16. A method of claim 9, whereinthe transition between adjacent coloured sub-sections includes a bendresulting from the two adjacent colours.
 17. A method of claim 9,wherein the transition between adjacent coloured sub-sections is clearlydelineated.
 18. A method of claim 9, wherein the length of said rattanstick is between 0.5-8 m.
 19. A method according to claim 18, whereinthe length of said rattan stick is between 3-4 m.
 20. A method accordingto claim 9, wherein said colouring baths including colouring agents andcompositions diluted with water.
 21. A method according to claim 9,wherein said colouring bath containing paint diluted by an appropriatethinner.